HOT PROPERTY

Westside Condo Is Latest Release

Singer and songwriter PAUL ANKA, whose new CD of duets, "Body of Work," will be released on Tuesday, has sold a Westside condo that he has owned since the late 1970s.

Anka and his wife, Anne, sold the condo for $595,000. It is situated in the gate-guarded community of Century Hills and has two bedrooms in about 2,500 square feet and a three-car garage. The community has tennis courts, pools and valet parking.

The Ankas have a longtime home in Beverly Hills, which they once put on the market but then decided not to sell.

They had a home in Las Vegas, where he performs several times a year, but that house was bulldozed in 1993 to make way for the entrance and parking lot of the 5,000-plus-room MGM Grand hotel and 33-acre theme park.

Anka, 57, concluded a 2 1/2-month world tour in July. He is expected to do about 300 concert dates by the end of the year. "A Body of Work" features duets with Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle and, through recording technology, Frank Sinatra, singing "My Way," which Anka wrote.

Besides the song "Diana," which he made a hit when he was a teenager, Anka wrote and popularized such standards as "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and "You Are My Destiny." He also wrote "She's a Lady" for Tom Jones and "The Tonight Show" theme for Johnny Carson. As a songwriter, Anka has been credited with an estimated 900 titles.

Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby's International Realty in Beverly Hills represented the buyer of the Ankas' condo, and Kathy Villa of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas Co., Beverly Hills, had the listing.

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Media magnate RUPERT MURDOCH and his estranged wife, ANNA, have put their Beverly Hills-area home on the market at $19.5 million.

Anna Murdoch filed for divorce in July, seeking alimony and division of the couple's property. The couple have been married for 31 years.

They purchased the Beverly Hills-area home in 1986 from the estate of Doris Stein, widow of the late Dr. Jules Stein, physician, philanthropist and founder of MCA Inc., now known as Universal Studios.

The Steins had owned the home since 1940. It was built in 1927 for Fred Niblo, who directed such silent movies as "The Mark of Zorro" (1920), starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and "Blood and Sand" (1922), starring Rudolph Valentino.

Designed by architect Wallace Neff, the Mediterranean-style house, on nearly seven acres with city views, has four family bedrooms, a guest bedroom and three staff bedrooms in 8,600-plus square feet. It also has a circular courtyard with a wishing well, a 600-foot-long driveway, formal gardens and a pool.

The Murdoch family owns 31% of the Australia-based News Corp. and its interests in U.S., British and Australian newspapers as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, which the company bought in March, and 20th Century Fox film and TV studios. Rupert Murdoch, 67, is chairman of the company. Anna Murdoch, 53, is a director and a vice president of the firm. She is also a novelist.

The Murdochs, who have three grown children, also have homes in New York, London and Aspen, Colo.

Hockey star ROB BLAKE, who overcame injuries to lead the L.A. Kings to the playoffs earlier this year, has sold his Manhattan Beach home of about a year for $1.7 million and purchased another, nearby, at about $5 million.

Blake, 28, won the Norris Trophy (the NHL's award for best defenseman) in June for his play over the 1997-98 season. A restricted free agent, he was unsigned by press deadline last week but had an offer from the Kings for a five-year $25-million contract.

He joined the NHL in 1990 and played an integral part in helping the Kings to make a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. He was injured while playing hockey but then participated in the World Championships, at which he was named top defenseman.

Originally from Ontario, Canada, Blake made the Canadian Olympic team and was selected as the top defenseman at this year's Nagano Olympics.

He and his fiancee, Brandi Fleming, were married in June, and they recently moved into their larger home.

John Macaluso, who owns the clothing company California Concepts, bought Blake's former 2,400-square-foot home, which has an ocean view.

Macaluso was represented in his purchase by Denise Fast of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas Co., Marina del Rey; Blake was represented in his sale and purchase by Robyn Biener and Alicia Greene of South Bay Brokers, Manhattan Beach.

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Hip-hop mogul RUSSELL SIMMONS, founder and CEO of Rush Communications and co-founder of Def Jam Records, has listed his Beverly Hills home at just under $2.9 million. He has moved back to his native New York.